I'm a new writer, and I recently had my first story published at a non-paying site -- carnageconservatory.wordpress.com (shamless plug, I know). Anyway, I didn't want to submit to non-paying publishers, but after having been rejected by a few different paying ones I figured maybe it was best to submit to both. My question is... is it a bad thing to mention non-paying publishing credits? Or is it kind of understood by editors that some writers have to work their way up?
Not all non-paying markets are equal. I've never heard of the one you mentioned, and I edit for a small magazine/ezine, so it would not benefit you at all from my perspective. But, for example, Mysterical-E, doesn't pay but in the short mystery fiction arena, it's known enough. Some of its stories have won the Derringer Award. It might make a difference, maybe encourage the reader to read with a slightly more open mind...maybe. Because, in the end, the truth is that it doesn't matter (unless you're someone like Stephen King) if you've got a few publishing credits as much as quality of the current story submitted and correct market being targeted.
I've been told by a couple of well-known short story writers and editors (pro-rate science fiction/fantasy) not to submit to non-paying sites, and if you do then don't mention it in your submissions to paying sites. Their view was that by submitting to a paying site you're essentially admitting that your work isn't worth paying for, and as such it does not inspire an editor of a paying site to buy from you.
did you forget to add 'non-' there, sp? assuming you did, i agree with your post... i always counsel my mentees and new writers on writing sites to only mention paid credits in a query...
